Bringing apricot trees to livestream
Specializing in trading bonsai grafted apricots in the form of online sales year-round, Ms. Cao Thi Thuy Trang (38 years old, Thoi An Dong ward, Can Tho city) is showing clear effectiveness when utilizing social networks to consume products.
With just a few hours of livestreaming each night combined with posting a tree introduction video, especially during the peak period near Tet, she can sell dozens of apricot trees, bringing in hundreds of millions of VND in revenue each month.
Having been attached to the bonsai grafting profession for more than 4 years, Ms. Trang currently owns a garden of about 2,500 m2 with more than 2,000 large and small apricot trees, creating regular jobs for many workers. Instead of relying on customers coming to the garden, she proactively uploads products to TikTok, YouTube to sell directly through video and livestream.
According to Ms. Trang, apricot blossom business takes place year-round but there is a clear seasonal difference. From October of the lunar calendar to March of the lunar calendar of the following year, the demand for buying apricot blossoms increases sharply, leading to the workload increasing many times over. Conversely, from April to September, purchasing power decreases, and the amount of goods consumed is less.
Usually I only post one tree introduction video, but at peak times I have to increase it to two videos per day. Livestreaming in the evening from 8 pm to 2 am the next morning because at this time the number of viewers is large, orders are closed continuously, and the packaging stage is also very crowded," Ms. Trang shared.
In the days leading up to Tet, on average, she sells about 8-12 apricot trees of medium and large value each day, of which large trees posted for sale via video are priced from 1.5 million VND to more than 10 million VND/tree. For evening livestream sessions, she mainly sells small-sized apricot trees at prices from 150,000 VND to more than 1 million VND/tree; each night she can consume about 60 trees. Consumption increases 2-3 times compared to normal days, helping the apricot garden's revenue reach over 300 million VND per month in peak season.
The apricot varieties favored by customers include Binh Loi super flower, Nhu Y flower, Ngoc Toan flower, Thien Loc orange flower, Hoan Kim flower - all with large flowers, many petals, thick buds and names with feng shui meaning.
Enhance customer trust
Ms. Trang said that selling online is much more effective than selling directly at the garden. "Selling directly depends on customers coming, while selling online is proactively approaching customers everywhere, much more effective," she said.
Livestreaming helps buyers clearly observe the shape of the tree, the base, the number of buds and receive direct advice, thereby creating trust, even with high-value apricot pots.
Ms. Nguyen Le Trinh (28 years old, Can Tho City) said that watching livestream helps her feel more secure when buying apricot blossoms when she doesn't have time to go shopping, because the seller advises carefully and the trees are delivered as introduced. This is the second year she has chosen to buy apricot blossoms through social networks to display for Tet.
Although bought online, the trees are carefully packed in wooden boxes, the grafts are solid, and when received, they are still intact," Ms. Trinh shared.
To serve online sales, the packaging and transportation stages are especially focused on by Ms. Trang. She emphasized: "Customers watch very carefully. Trees must be in the right shape, with the right buds as on livestream to maintain prestige and sell for a long time.
This model shows that social networks are becoming an important consumption channel, helping apricot growers only need a few hours a day but still expand the market, increase income and gradually change traditional farming methods in the digital economy context.
